kickbox chaos

FINAL CALL

The Irish Sun on Sunday can reveal that the IPU proposals to better tackle the country’s growing drug problem include:

HSE training for pharmacists that administer methadone to heroin addicts on how to use naloxone, a drug that stops overdoses and can save lives

A scheme that would allow pharmacists with a specialty in addiction to prescribe drugs in order to solve the difficulties recruiting Level One GPs around the country

Using community pharmacists to play a supporting role for addicts on an outpatient alcohol detox programme

The decriminalisation of a small amount of drugs for personal use to stop people with addictions clogging up the justice system

Speaking to the Irish Sun on Sunday, Mr Connolly told how the Government should follow the example of Portugal where drugs have been decriminalised and addicts are put through their health system instead of the justice system.

He said: “What we see in international best practice is if we put in the extra layer and know that we can channel people very early on into good healthcare we will get better outcomes than criminalising them.

“It’s not that we are condoning the misuse of drugs, what we are doing is trying to solve a very big problem and trying to play our part in that.

“Ireland has a very serious problem with addiction.

“What we are saying to Drugs Minster Catherine Byrne from a healthcare perspective, because we have a close relationship with pharmacists in Portugal, from a healthcare perspective this works.

“You can see the statistics from Portugal showing the incidents of hepatitis and AIDs decreased once this was brought in as Government policy, backed by needle exchanges and proper healthcare solutions.”

The pharmacy chief described the new issue of polydrug use.

He said: “We increasingly see people coming to pharmacies with problems around the use of various drugs together.

“Where maybe 20 or 30 years ago, it might be someone who had an addiction to an opiate or to alcohol or to a benzodiazepine.

“No matter whatever it might have been they had an addiction, but what we’re seeing now is lots of different drugs are making up the problem for these people.

“That makes it harder to treat if you leave it late to get treated.

“If we get in and make interventions early and treat people as patients we can get better outcomes.”

lIF you are struggling with addiction contact Coolmine Addiction on 087 122 9307.